Thomas Edison, how could you?

[Michael Quinion]

> That's not her invention. I learned it from my dad, another
> logophile. It means a route used to avoid paying toll, such as
> taking the exit just before the tollbooth (given an appropriate
> toll structure). ... Ah. OED doesn't know it, but AHD4 does, so
> it's probably an Americanism

Actually the OED does know it, but as a hyphenated term. First use is
cited from the Albany Evening Atlas in 1853. Definitely American. A
reference at

http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/history/holman/shunpike.htm

implies that it might be even older.


--
Michael Quinion
Editor, World Wide Words
E-mail: <TheEditor at worldwidewords.org>
Web: <http://www.worldwidewords.org/>